Medical advice needed... - Page 1

Hi,
A friend of mine has a 10 year old german shepherd who has some sort of growth on the gum above one of her canines.  He has taken her to a vet, but this vet wasn't able to do anything for her because it was a small vet clinic.  As he just lost his job,  he doesn't have the money to take her to a really good vet or to get many tests done.  He described it to me as her gums had become swollen, but when I saw the pictures I realized it was much worse than that.  Although I'm planning on becoming a veterinarian, I have no idea of what I'm looking at yet.  I was wondering if anyone knew of something like this happening to another dog or if they know what it could possibly be.  Also, if anyone knows of a vet or clinic that does tests that may be beneficial for a cheaper price or free ( I know that lots of people do volunteer work for humane societys, etc.) in the Dallas/Ft.Worth area I would love to hear about it.  He sent me 3 pictures and two of them aren't that pretty so...

Thank you,
Haley

It was a small vet clinic?
Thats a piss poor excuse.
Did the vet make any kind of diagnosis?
Go find a real vet.
Has the owner tried to examine the dog them self?
Possible injury or foreign object?
Teeth, abscess?

will you post the photos?

try the humane society, spca or any other animal loving group

call foster care place and ask if the know of anyone who can help

call the county human services and ask of they know free spay vets, they may be more willing to help.

computer won't help much, phone calling is much better at getting answers with this type of thing.

wishing you the best of luck

I`d say that your friend should not waist any time in getting a correct diagnosis for his dog`s problem. Yes it cold be anything from a gym or teeth infection to an abscess or foreign body, but the worst case scenario is that it could be an epulis, which is a tumor, potentially very dangerous to the dog and more importantly it requires surgery. Since your friend is having financial difficulties, I think that the best sollution would be the humane society, where they could provide atleast information about vets that could diagnose and treat the dog for free, or they could offer some other type of help. Don`t waste time, the sooner you get a diagnosis, the better for the dog. Wish you the best, please do write how everything turns out.

Please have your friend see an oncology specialist, usually there is a fund that is available to times like this.
Always,
Cee

I have tried to put the images up here but is not working so here are the links...

http://i31.tinypic.com/30ju3i9.jpg

http://i29.tinypic.com/2mnjbkn.jpg

http://i25.tinypic.com/2gwt2dk.jpg

It looks like some kind of ulcer or possibly a tumor.  This is denitely something that has to be seen by a vet asap!

I work for a Vet. and I would think even at a small clinic that they should be able to take that off.  When someone comes in with a animal that has a lump or bump my bosses always say  "We can do two things watch it or take it off."
It being in the mouth I would deffently go to a Vet. that has a Laser and have them take it off.  The Laser will cause less blood loss and trama to her mouth then a blade.
Is she still eating and drinking?
I wish your friend luck with his dog.

I agree that doesn't look normal and it doesn't look like an abscess or a wound.
Not saying its something awfull, just that it needs to be looked at.

Definately see a good vet or specialist.

Posting the pics was a great help.. I'm not a vet either, but this looks like an epulis tumour, pretty common, especially in that area, and  benign.  But it will need surgery to remove it.  The prognosis after excision is good, but the area of excision might have to be fairly extensive, as it looks like quite a large area is involved, and if it isn't completely removed, the chances are that it would regrow.
I do hope that your friend can find a surgeon to help.